Fox Searchlight’s Taylor Friedman

Hollywood's New Leaders: 10 Assistants to Watch

Friedman got bitten by the film bug even before she became a teenager. “At age 11, I was thinking about being a movie marketing photos/_specials_arts/assist10_info_friedman.jpg” vspace=”3″ hspace=”3″ align=”left”>executive; when I got into producing I realized that this is where I belong,” she says. While attending Brown, Friedman created the publicity team for the Ivy Film Festival, reportedly the largest student-run sprocket opera in the world, and ultimately co-ran the event during her senior year. Now approaching her three-year mark at Fox Searchlight, she’s worked her way up in the same fashion. Friedman started as an assistant to senior vice president Zola Mashariki. From there she was promoted to Claudia Lewis’ desk, where she helped with some of last year’s biggest pics, including “127 Hours” and “Black Swan.” Her hard work and “unflagging energy” — as Lewis puts it — have gotten Friedman noticed. “I’m very task-oriented and organized,” says Friedman about herself. “I’m just passionate about the films we’re making, and the same things that challenge me are the things that thrill me. I couldn’t imagine a better place to work.” She plans to follow her ambition and rise up the Hollywood ranks — with the eventual goal of trying her hand at her ultimate dream: producing.